The tradition of ‘Boxing Day‘It has existed in English football for 141 years, when some British families started the custom of getting together on December 26 to share their gifts and watch games. However, this typical celebration will be tarnished for the 2021 edition due to the regrowth of Covid-19.
A new wave of infections has caused the postponement of two games for the ‘Boxing Day 2021‘, corresponding to matchday 19 of the English championship. It is about Wolverhampton against Watford and Liverpool against Leeds United, which add to the dozen games that have been postponed within the last three dates, including the six that were suspended only the previous weekend.
“We are disappointed to confirm that our ‘Boxing Day’ match against Liverpool was postponed after five new positive cases of Covid-19 within the team and the staff of the first team ”, mentioned Leeds United, led by the Argentine Marcelo bielsa, in a statement to which the Reds briefly responded with a confirmation.
“The Premier League is aware that the decision to postpone these two games will disappoint the fans and understands their frustrations at a special time of year, in which the fans expect to attend and see the games,” the league said on the other hand. another statement.
While Leeds United is depleted due to the number of players with COVID-19, injuries and illnesses, its training ground has also been closed following consultation with the UK Health Security Agency and the Premier League.
For its part, Watford still does not have a sufficient number of players to line up a team after their match against Crystal Palace last Saturday was postponed after an outbreak of infections, so they will already add two matches without being able to show up in court.
Wolverhampton, the team of Mexican striker Raúl Jiménez, said on its official website that “the decision was made with the guidance of medical advisers” once Watford asked the Premier League board to make a decision quickly, “to advise with sufficient notice to the fans of both clubs who plan to attend the match. It also specified that the tickets will be valid for the date of the readjustment and that, in the case of refunds, they will be available through an institutional email account.
In this way, Liverpool will lose the opportunity to match Manchester City as Premier leader before closing the year, as there is only a three-point difference between the two (City leads with 44). Wolverhampton are in eighth place and could lag behind to 11th place if Leicester City and Aston Villa win their respective games, while Watford could fall to the relegation zone if overtaken by Burnley, Newcastle or Norwich City.
The postponements have come against a backdrop in which Britain and France have reported national records for the number of new COVID-19 infections, with 119,789 new cases for the British and more than 91,000 for the French as of December 23.
Reference-www.eleconomista.com.mx